Searchers look for long-lost plane

A new hunt is set to begin for a jet missing since 1971

Updated 8:56 pm, Thursday, July 17, 2014

Searchers using new technologies and a submarine will search again for a private jet that disappeared into Lake Champlain more than 40 years ago.

On the night of Jan. 27, 1971, a 10-passenger, twin-engine jet left from Burlington, Vt., on a flight to Providence, R.I., during a snowstorm, State Police said Thursday.

The Rockwell Jet Commander, owned by Cousins Properties, an Atlanta-based real estate agency, had appeared at 5,000 feet on one radar blip but was gone seconds later, police said.

The following morning, Civil Air Patrol planes saw open water on the lake but no fuel slick or wreckage. Four days later, the lake froze over.

More Information

In April, small pieces of the plane came ashore in Shelburne, Vt., officials said. After most of the ice melted, another search was made using a submarine, sonar and infrared equipment, but nothing else turned up. The March 2014 disappearance of the Malaysian Flight 370 prompted local officials to think about the 1971 incident, police said.

This month, modern techniques will be used, such as side-scanning sonar, underwater vehicles and a submarine. New York State Police and the Department of Environmental Conservation will work with Vermont State Police in the search. During the search, boating traffic in the area will be restricted.

"In the weeks since early March, a great many state and volunteer agencies and individuals have pulled together to plan a new search in the hope of finally solving Lake Champlain's greatest aviation mystery. These experts are bringing new search theories, techniques and technology to the current effort which combines several public and private organizations," State Police said.